


in vino veritas

by Dantherus



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Biting, Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood Kink, Come Eating, Drunk Sex, Drunkenness, Dubious Consent, Fauns & Satyrs, Fireplaces, Human/Monster Romance, Intoxication, M/M, Minor Violence, Other, Religious Undertones, Satyr!Hannibal, Smut, woodman!will graham
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:14:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28252986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dantherus/pseuds/Dantherus
Summary: The Creature lurking in the woods is one that Will has never seen, even after all these years walking these lands.Will is caught off-guard by its invitation to tea and biscuits. Cornered by the Creature in its own territory, Will knows well enough that a wrong answer will be the death of him. He accepts and follows the Creature to its lair, with every intention of killing it once they get there. After all, it's either that or letting himself get killed.However, things don't go quite as planned. It is well known that in wine, there is truth, and Will has had his own share of secrets to keep.
Relationships: Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 26
Kudos: 109





	1. A Strange Invite

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bakamoni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bakamoni/gifts).



> I had this idea after seeing a Stag!Hannigram fanart by Flying Rotten on twitter. It reminded me of that bit in the Narnia movie where Mr. Tumnus meets Lucy under the lamppost, invites her for tea, and then tries to get her to sleep so he can take her to the Evil Queen.  
> So logically I though, Cannibal!Satyr!Hannibal and Woodman!Will, and the rest... You'll see below. 
> 
> Please, heed the tags!  
> I'll be happy to add any tags that I might have forgotten, so let me know if I missed any.  
> Again: HEED THE TAGS! And if you're a minor, kindly click on back out.  
> That being said, enjoy!
> 
> Update: this was supposed to be a oneshot but i'm already halfway through writing ch2 and got ch3 + epilogue outlined so... buckle up!

“It’s terribly cold out here, don’t you agree?”

The voice was but a whisper coming from somewhere amid the trees. Daylight was dim and quickly fading away, engulfed by branches where snow had piled up. Will had been here chopping extra wood for a few hours and had tied it all up to take back to his house. All the while, it had seemed like someone or something was observing him. Curious, never approaching. Until now.

“So, I guess it's you killing our sheep in the dead of the night?”

A chuckle.

“I’ve been quite lenient. You people have forgotten proper manners. You enter my woods, cut down my trees; take away my game and plow the earth that’s so dear to me. Never once an offering is made. That is quite rude, dear boy.”

The voice came from a different direction just then. It seemed that the Creature was circling Will.

His axe was held tightly in his hand.

“I suppose that makes sense, then. But while you punish us for forgetting the old ways, families die because their only source of income is gone. Is it fair that we must suffer twice?”

There was some rustling of leaves, just behind Will. He turned around sharply. A pair of yellow eyes looked at him from within the shadows, taller than himself. The creature’s shape was barely discernible, but Will could tell that it wasn’t anything he’d ever seen.

“If you wish for protection for your family, you need only ask.”

Will saw it then, very briefly; the glint of sharp teeth stretching into a grin. Making a deal with the Devil always meant giving more than you had bargained for.

“I’m fine like this.”

He picked up the piled wood. It could serve as a shield or a weapon, if it came to it.

“If you’ll excuse me.”

“No family, then?” The creature tutted its tongue. “Nobody to greet you when you get back… Tell me, boy, is that the reason you spend so much time in my lands? Is that why every winter you are the only one still here?”

Will huffed, clouds of condensation rising up in the freezing air. “I’ve got a dog and he gets quite anxious when I’m late.”

“I’m sure it won’t mind a couple more hours.” The creature moved again; it was standing between Will and the way out. “I’m only offering some tea and biscuits. But I reckon you’re rather the hard liquor kind of man.”

“No ‘boy’ anymore?”

Another chuckle, darker than the first one. It crawled up Will’s back.

He had heard talk of a spirit that roamed these woods, and of people that went to hunt it and never returned. Sure, he had nobody but his dog waiting for him at home, but accepting the Creature’s invitation might mean he’d never step out of here again. There was an odd sort of appeal to the idea, and an even greater one of coming back with the beheaded devil that kept plaguing their village.

“One cup,” Will said. “And it’d better be hot.”

“Scalding,” the Creature purred. “This way.”

Will dropped the wood and followed.

A distinct smell of herbs and red wine trailed after the Creature, and as it moved, the muffled sound of hooves against the frozen ground was heard.

*

The Creature moved with practised ease through the trees, in spite of the utter darkness which came with sunset. If it weren’t for experience, Will would’ve gotten lost. But perhaps that was what the creature wanted.

As they walked and Will's eyes became accustomed to the dark, the Creature’s shape became somewhat clearer.

It had bent legs covered in thick, greyish-brown fur that ended in hooves like those of a goat. Its torso was that of a man, with a chest also covered in fur. The arms were long, too long, in fact. The creature bent forward slightly, always lurking, which made its long, grey hair fall in curtains over its shoulders — and from the mass of thick locks, a pair of horns sprung, bent sideways and spreading into phalanges like tree branches.

 _One swift blow to the nape_ , Will thought. He needn’t be cruel, and he doubted the Creature would give him a chance to take his time.

Will was an experienced hunter. He knew that the longer he waited, the further they’d go into the Creature’s territory, which put him at a disadvantage. He readied the axe, it had to be now.

The Creature stopped, stretched its neck and sniffed the air. A sound like a growl rumbled from deep within its chest. A few nearby birds took flight. There was a strange smell in the air, something coppery, but sweet.

The Creature turned its head around swiftly, but the angle was wrong. Any normal being that attempted that would have a broken neck.

It grinned, sharp white teeth a few inches from Will’s face, sharing his breath. It paid no mind to the axe, as if it were but a mere toy.

“We’re here,” it said.

“Good,” Will swallowed. “I’m freezing.”

The Creature lived in a hole on a rock; the entrance was hidden well enough that any passerby would have a hard time noticing it. They had to squeeze inside, but the interior was spacious. Cosy even. A warm fire crackled at the other end of the room, where armchairs placed on a rug faced it. A low coffee table stood between them.

A sweet scent of herbal tea permeated the room, and Will sighed in spite of himself, in spite of the danger. His hold got loose, and he forced himself to tighten it again.

“Have a seat.”

The Creature waited.

Will finally had the chance to take a good look at it, so he did. If it weren’t for the hooves and the horns, It might’ve looked just like any other man. But then, there were the eyes. The slits were shaped like a goat’s.

“Thank you.”

Will took one of the chairs, turning it around so that nothing could creep behind his back. He noticed the ghost of a grin playing on the Creature’s face, but it vanished quickly. Will watched as It made them both tea.

The smell of warm milk was comforting, and Will had to fight the sleepiness that was soon taking over him. Something about that smell. Something sweet. It was making his head all fuzzy, images flickering on his mind. People dancing, voices echoing in a distant past. Music as faint as the breeze.

He dropped the axe and didn’t even notice, because his eyes were suddenly drawn to the fireplace. Had he really seen that? Creatures much like the one preparing him tea and young girls dressed in fine silk danced in the flames. Will could almost feel it, the soft grass beneath his feet.

“Here you go.”

Will startled. Somehow, he had nodded off. The Creature was right in front of him, handing him a cup and a saucer. Will sat up straight, heart hammering away in his chest. He mustn’t sleep. If he did, he was done for.

“Thanks.”

He took the cup, and a sip. It was delicious, soothing aches he didn’t know his body was feeling. But there was one starting anew, growing with each sip of the fragrant tea. Will couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it made him relax against the armchair with a languid sigh.

“Do you enjoy music?”

Will nodded, not really paying attention to the question, much less to his surroundings. Faintly, he remembered he had come here for something.

“What was it?” He wondered aloud.

“What was what?” The Creature asked. It had pulled out a forked flute and started playing a soft tune, which went right to Will’s head. It made him feel like he was high, so he giggled. The Creature eyed him approvingly, and Will shuddered.

“Are you doing this?”

The Creature raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence. It was blasphemous.

“I feel like… Like someone’s messing with my head. Opening every door and looking inside.”

The tune stopped. “Are you scared they will see something you can’t let others know?”

Will nodded in spite of himself. He had never told a soul about the kinds of things he dreamed of in the dead of the night, but the music now coming from the flute egged him on. He had never uttered a word about how his body ached and itched for something that he couldn’t have, not in a small village like that. He couldn’t tell anybody how hard it made him to think of putting his mouth on the smith’s cock. It didn’t matter if he was old and oftentimes covered in soot, or that his daughter was Will’s friend. He would take it to the grave: the fact that he came and came with the thought of having every single man in that village use him, fuck him raw and leave him naked and panting, covered in spunk.

Will shuddered and moaned softly. The cup was empty, but his body was warm and heavy, and he let the item fall to the floor. The sound of broken porcelain was loud in the small room.

The tune stopped.

Only then did Will realise he had said all that aloud.

“What…”

The Creature chuckled. “There is a saying that has accompanied my kind for generations.”

It lifted a jug and poured more milky tea into a cup. It turned blood red right before Will’s eyes.

“ _In vino veritas._ ”

Will swallowed, finally recognising the intoxicated state of his body for what it was.

“You bastard…” He blurted out a laugh, strangled at first, but growing in intensity the more Will confessed: “I was going to kill you. Wanted to bring back your head with me. Was gonna hang it on my front gate, use it for archery practice, I don’t know… Fuck, you’re smart, I’ll give you that. I’m gonna die here, aren’t I? Shit, I should’ve- Should’ve fucked them all. God I wanted it so bad.”

In spite of the horror of spewing all his secrets so naturally to a devil that would kill him, Will couldn’t stop. They just kept coming, much like the waves of strange arousal that coursed through his body.

He groaned.

“You are a different one,” the Creature said. “I shall accept your confession as an offering. Shall savour all of it. In turn, I’ll give you that which your body desires.”

The Creature approached Will, hooves clicking against the wooden floor. It sat on the armchair opposite Will’s and opened its legs, parting its thick fur to reveal a slit from whence sprung its cock. It was large and red, resembling a human’s, but with a more pointed head. Where the fur met skin, it was wet with slick, and Will watched as the Creature slid a hand over itself, stroking its cock and filling the room with wet sounds.

“Come,” the Creature beckoned. There was a devilish smile on its face now, as if it knew well what the sight of that hard, wet cock was doing to Will.

Will went, nonetheless.

He fell on his knees in front of the Creature, shy at first, but soon sliding open palms over the fur that covered its bent legs. Here, that sickly sweet smell was stronger, filling Will’s mouth with saliva. He wanted it so much that drool trickled down his chin when he opened his mouth to take the Creature’s cock.

The taste was on his tongue, and Will moaned around the pointy head.

“Eager, are we? Good.” The praise went straight to Will’s dick, and he shoved a hand down there to squeeze himself, coming immediately. The creature tutted.

“Shouldn’t have done that.” The Creature yanked Will’s head off its cock with a fist around his curly hair. “So eager. So greedy… I guess you aren’t so different from others of your kind, after all.”

Will found it in himself to huff out a laugh. He held the Creature’s gaze with droopy eyelids and lips covered with spit. “You said you were going to give it to me, and now you won’t let me have it. Who is the greedy one here?”

The Creature’s face split into a feral smile, sharp teeth gleaming in the fire light. One bite from them, and Will would be dead. The thought sent a shiver down his spine. He wanted those teeth on his neck and that cock buried deep inside.

“As you wish.”

The Creature made Will stand and turn around. Fast, he disposed of Will’s clothes, with a violence that would’ve broken a lesser man. Will couldn’t care less about the dangers of submitting to a devil like the one currently dragging a tongue all the way up his spine, not when his own dick was filling out again, ready to go. The Creature’s spit was thicker than a normal human’s, so much that when It spread Will’s cheeks and lapped at his hole, Will felt it gathering and running down his thigh.

Will was bent over and his ass was hoisted up, which forced him to use the coffee table for support. The shadows of the flames flickering in the fireplace danced on his skin. The Creature lapped and sucked at his hole, dragged Its flat tongue over Will’s balls and held him firmly in place when his knees buckled from the sensation.

Its fingers dug painfully into Will’s sides, and Will bucked whenever they dragged over a hard nipple. Will had never known that his body could be this sensitive, but here he was, falling apart on the Devil’s tongue.

“Fuck, I’m gonna come,” he breathed out. It only took one drag of the Creature’s razor-sharp teeth on his asscheek for Will to spill again, come splattering on the floor, on the coffee table, and on the Creature’s dented hooves.

Will cursed, body going limp from pleasure.

This time, the Creature pulled Will to itself, placed him comfortably on its lap, and the fur tickled Will’s thighs. The Creature was taller and broader in every sense, and Will felt a rumbling of wicked pleasure start in his own chest at the thought of being taken apart by something that big, of taking the Creature’s hard length into himself and having his body stretch to accommodate it.

Will shivered.

The Creature put its mouth against Will’s ear. “You’re a beast. I’ve given you more pleasure than you’ve experienced in a lifetime, and still you are far from sated.”

“I hope you don’t mind if I’m still bent on killing you after this,” Will spat, annoyed and embarrassed. The Creature lifted one of his legs, and he let It. “You talk too much.”

The Creature laughed darkly. “I’ve taken a liking to you,” It said, circling Will’s hole with a long finger and sinking it in. The finger knew where to reach, pressing right up against that spot that would make Will see stars. He had learned from a young age the kinds of sensations that pressing there would bring, but having someone else do that made it all the more intense. Almost unbearable.

“Hold your legs up for me,” the Creature ordered. Will obeyed easily. “Good boy.”

There it was again, that damned praise. Will was so exposed, that being called a good boy made him feel filthy in all sorts of ways. And every single one of them made his dick throb painfully and spill a bit of pre-cum. He leaked more and more as that finger thrusted in and out, massaging that soft spot within.

Will moaned when the fingers went away, but soon they were in his mouth and he could taste the Creature’s saliva on his tongue. The mix went straight to his head and Will closed his eyes, just letting it happen when the Creature manoeuvred him in a way that had that thick cock pressing against his hole, his back still against the Creature's chest.

He was going to let this being, whatever it was with Its horns and teeth and hooves of a beast, fuck him; was going to spread his legs like a whore begging for it, and God damn him if he didn’t want all of it.

“Come inside me,” he whispered hotly once the fingers were gone. There was spit dripping down his chin. Twisting his body, Will grabbed onto the Creature’s hair with a tight fist, and then onto its horns. “Fill me with cum and leave me dripping with it.”

The creature growled, using those same fingers that were inside Will’s mouth to wet him up one last time before spreading Will open with Its cock. It didn’t stop pushing even when Will let out a whimper and a sob; didn’t give the boy time to adjust when it was all in, and his mouth was open in a breathless “o”. It was hot and slick when the Creature started rutting into Will, the girth of It a constant pressure against Will’s sweet spot.

Will was drunk with it, with the burn and the stretch and how deep that cock reached inside him. If he touched himself now, he’d come right away. Fuck, he wanted to come, and told the Creature as much, which seemed to please It immensely. The thrusts became more intense, and at some point, the Creature grabbed onto Will’s waist and started pulling him down to meet Its cock.

The slapping sounds were muffled by the Creature’s fur, but Will was breathing hard, and having a hard time keeping his legs in place. His foot kept sliding off the Creature’s knee.

Will grew impatient. He was so close to coming that he could feel it on his lips, and tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. “Fuck, you feel so good. So fucking big.”

If that was the wine talking, Will couldn’t tell, but he doubted another man could make him feel like this. Being open and used, having to take and take something so large, and it being so good that Will felt stupid from it… Will sobbed with sudden realisation. This Creature had spoiled him for others. No matter whom he fucked, Will would always be plagued by a sense of wrong, of lacking. “Almost makes me regret having to kill you.”

“You won’t kill me,” the Creature reassured. “I’m going to come inside you until you’re filled with my seed; going to imbibe you with my wine until you can’t lift a finger; milk your cock to the last drop. Only when you have nothing more to give, I’ll lay you out on my bed and eat you whole.”

The Creature sank its teeth into the junction of Will’s neck and shoulder. Will yelped in pain and pleasure; hot blood gushed from the wound, but the creature drank it all up, and only unlatched when it had had its fill.

“Not a drop of your delicious blood will be lost, not now that I know what you taste like. Ripe and fertile like the earth during spring.”

Will shivered and cursed, orgasm hitting him hard and sudden. He pushed up against the Creature’s cock, ground down on it. He hadn’t even needed touch his dick, but now thick cum dribbled out of the pulsating head.

Will shuddered with the remaining waves of his high. He assessed the mess on his stomach. The Creature had groaned at the sight of it and curled a possessive claw over his belly. Will unthinkingly worked the mess of spunk into his skin with shaky fingers, getting them slick.

Somehow, that made the Creature harder, pace growing erratic, frantic.

“You’re close,” Will observed, mesmerised by the effect he had on such a dangerous being. It was intoxicating.

Unthinkingly, he twisted around as best as he could and offered his fingers to the Creature. From this position, Will couldn't quite look at the beast, but their faces were close enough that Will saw droplets of sweat gathering on the Creature's temple. Its smell was strong and sweet and Will dragged his nose over Its sharp cheekbone.

The Creature suckled Will's fingers eagerly, letting out a groan of approval. Will fucked Its mouth with them in the same way that the Creature fucked his abused hole. A sharp tooth caught on one of them and opened a gash that soon spilled blood.

"Oh," Will gasped.

At the taste of it, the Creature pulled Will hard against Itself, powerful hips stuttering to a pause, emptying it all inside that cunning, foul-mouthed boy. Both groaned in unison, Will clenching around that cock and milking it dry, feeling that orgasm as if it was his own.

A drop of his own blood ran down the Creature’s chin, and Will licked it up. Chin and lips and sharp teeth, and the Creature offered him its tongue, which Will sucked with the same eagerness that he had done Its cock. It tasted of wine and sin.

The Creature’s cock softened inside him and slipped out. A mess of spend trickled out, ran down Will’s ass, and dripped onto brown fur.

Will stopped sucking the Creature’s tongue to pay attention to the cum dripping out of him. He reached down with a finger, feeling how puffy and sore his hole had become, and shivering with it. His dick twitched, interested, but too spent to do anything else. Will pushed as much of the cum back inside as he could, but it was hard to keep it there. He felt loose in the best of ways, and thus laid against the Creature’s furry chest, both taking their time to regain their breath.

After a while, from the corner of his eye, Will saw the blade of his axe glinting near the fire.

He must kill the beast, but instead basked in the afterglow of sex together.

The Creature lifted Will’s hand and lapped away the rest of the blood. Perhaps it was the wine wearing off, but Will was beginning to regain full control of his senses, and tensed up.

“You’ve surprised me many times today, dear Will.”

Will froze, sudden panic flooding his veins. He had no memory of telling the Creature his name. It was common knowledge that giving magic folk your name could only bring about disaster.

“I will be merciful and allow you to go this once. But if any of your villagers comes into my territory again, I will raid their homes on a moonless night and leave none alive. I will feast on their flesh like my forefathers used to, before you came along with weapons and fences.”

Will’s throat clicked; he nodded.

“I will let them know.”

The Creature gave another one of those deep chuckles, and Will was reminded of how dangerous this being was. How It could snap Will’s neck at any moment, but had chosen not only to fuck him better than anyone ever could, and would also now let him go.

“Why?” Will asked, before he could stop himself.

The Creature grinned. “Oh, dear boy… You’ll know soon enough.”


	2. Haunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will faces the aftermath of his encounter with the Creature, and some changes are set into motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again i am begging you to:  
> 1\. heed the tags  
> 2\. back out if you're a minor  
> 3\. sin with me
> 
> also, i'm very slow and old, so bear with me. if you notice it's taking me longer to update, feel free to come yell at me on twitter

**Chapter 2: Haunted**

**-**

The forest was as quiet as a grave. 

The rustling of low tree branches and the shuffling of feet through the calf-deep snow were the only indicators of Will’s presence. One knew better than to disturb silence, and he did his best to pass unnoticed.

Will reached the village in the dead of the night, covered in loose rags that allowed a glimpse at the bite mark on his shoulder. There was dried blood there, where the Creature hadn’t licked it clean. Will’s injured hand was also tainted red, but the inflamed redness of his fingertips was due to the cold.

Will’s teeth chattered together and he shivered with every breath. He brought both hands up and blew on them, but mist swirled up in front of his face, and whatever bit of precious warmth he could produce was stolen by the freezing night air. Will didn’t know how long he could keep going since, with every step, his body grew heavier. He needed to find shelter before the darkness closing around his field of vision finally claimed it. 

Where he was now shouldn’t be too far from the first farms. If Will endured it just a little more, he’d be able to call for help. He had no idea how he would explain his current state, but even he had a hard time figuring out how he had managed to survive.

The Creature had let him go shortly after having him. There had been no gentleness in the act, no care beyond what was required not to break Will entirely. No goodbyes or an offer of a blanket to compensate for Will’s destroyed garments. Even the axe had also stayed behind. _It_ had taken what it wanted and sent Will off with both an eerie promise and a warning. Will could swear that the Creature’s seed was still inside him, and that it trickled out in a steady, filthy stream, because there had been so much of it. Enough to make Will feel full and ready to burst, but also — God forbid — obscenely _sated._ That was what he had asked for, though, wasn’t it?

Will’s vision narrowed down to a single spot of light right in the near distance, but he collapsed before he could reach it. The snow bit into his already reddened cheeks, unforgiving, and not even his shallow beard could prevent the burning feeling that soon followed. He only had enough energy left to let out a whimper, but that, too, was swallowed by the cutting draft and the looming, dark edge of trees. Nevermind that he had crossed them near blind and managed not to fall and break his neck, that last step had taken its toll, and Will craned his neck in the direction of that rare light.

It was a window, a rather small one, decorated with white, flower-patterned curtains. It opened into a farmhouse whose low ceiling and sturdy, stony walls felt somewhat familiar. That had to be the Hobbs’s residence, and Will prayed that the glimmering light meant that someone was still awake, perhaps reading by candlelight, or just having trouble sleeping. It was late, and around here, it was rather the norm to get an early night. 

The Hobbs were Will’s closest neighbours, both in distance and in friendship. Many times, he had helped around their farm and brought them firewood when the father, Jacobs, had taken ill. They took care of each other, and when Will croaked out a faint _help_ , it was hanging on to this primal sense of community, depositing all his hope of survival into it. He begged, _prayed_ that they would feel something was amiss and come forth. 

“Help,” he cried. No sound came out. What a ridiculous way to die, having survived all that. 

Will exhaled quietly as his eyes closed and the leaden weight of the cold settled upon him. Sight left him first, and then smell, relinquishing only a faint scent of copper where Will’s nose had started to bleed. At last, hearing faded into the gray nothingness of the ululating wind, clipped only by the distant, mirage-like sound of footsteps in the snow. 

*

_What a horrible thing… Poor boy’s been through so much_ — was what they said, and cast him glances as if Will were something pitiful. 

_They_ had been looking at him the same way ever since Will’s last living relative had passed away. Will had inherited the Graham property at a young age, when a boy wasn’t hopeless anymore without his mum and dad, but at which being left all alone in an old house seemed just too soon. Will wasn’t old enough to marry, but it might help, and people liked to whisper their concerns. Draughts came, and so did rain and thunder; crops died, and at some point the pantry had too much space in the shelves; livestock got sick and eventually, so did Will — but the Graham boy weathered it all, alone. 

Company, when it came, was uninvited. It burrowed itself under Will’s porch and growled at him when he tried to remove it. Eventually, Will got it to come out with a strip of dried meat and some warm milk, which _company_ had wolfed down in seconds and then looked at Will with unbound loyalty in its eyes. Will had caved when the puppy, whose middle was now round and heavy after a rich meal, licked his hand and wagged its tail. Will had picked it up and taken it inside, wondering what his grandpa, Winston, would have thought of having a mongrel named after him. 

Will was aware that he painted a sad picture to the rest of them, and it only made what happened to him all the more gruesome to those poor people. 

_We must do something about this beast- last time it came, it took away five of our sheep! Now, it’s attacking people in the forest! Soon enough it’ll be creeping into our homes and killing us in our sleep! We gotta kill it! Let’s kill it!_

In the wake of terror caused by those words, an assembly soon was held. The head of each household was present when the Town Council reunited in the largest barn of the village, one that belonged to the Crawford family. Jack was the leader of the Council, like his father before him, and he stood in the middle of the mass of distraught villagers, demanding calm and silence. 

Will bit his nails to the point of bleeding while the ruckus took place. The days had become darker since he had been found, and the air weighed heavy upon the place. Windows had been boarded up and machetes were kept at hand at all times; fights broke out without need for provocation, and people glanced over their shoulders obsessively; a strict curfew had been established, and anyone caught outside past hours was sent to the town’s jail. Regular patrols started taking place, and even women were expected to carry a weapon on them. Days were tense, and nights were spent in prayer. 

How ironic, how obscene that their sense of community could be profaned so easily. But Will couldn’t blame them, not after his account of the events. The warning had been clear enough. When Will spoke it, it was the Creature’s voice rolling off his tongue — and they had believed it. Clear as day in their fretful eyes and twisting hands, as they took in the image of Will’s mangled body. He had bruises wherever his pale skin was visible, and a nasty bandage on his neck that seemed perpetually moist with crimson. 

“It will kill every single one of us,” Will said. “It attacked me, but it didn’t kill me. Instead, it let me crawl back here. Let my body be a warning. It will kill us, unless we stay off its territory, or… Or take back the old ways.”

The uproar that followed Will’s words made him waver where he stood. Jack Crawford helped him down on a stool, soon turning his attention to the hysterical mob. Jack must have known what Will’s words would create, but there had been the strangest lust in his eyes when Will had told him the story earlier. 

Will didn’t mind. He wanted the Creature dead, same as everyone else, or perhaps even more so — because when he laid awake at night, the delicious agony of having had that monstrosity pounding relentlessly into him came back anew: a throbbing ache between his legs and a burning feeling on his rim that only abated when Will took up prayer. But the phantom touch remained on Will’s skin, not unlike a long overdue _hello_. 

_What do you mean old ways?!,_ someone shouted, but the answer was clear enough, and Will knew that they only needed confirmation. 

Odd, Will thought, how we will pursue the limits of grotesque before we let our minds believe an ugly truth. And the ugly truth of their little village lay buried deep within those same woods that the Creature inhabited. An old mound atop of which a stone table had been carved, and where innocent blood had cascaded, soaking up the earth and feeding their crops, before their old Fathers had been _saved_.

Perhaps it was divine retribution that their blood-stained lands had birthed a monstrosity that thrived on it, and which promised to be their demise. 

“I don’t know. I blacked out when the pain became too much. Don’t even know how I got here. But it spoke unto me, it said- It said...”

Will winced, and Jack put a hand on his good shoulder, stopping him there. 

“I think Will here has given us enough. He did his part in warning us, now we must let him rest and do our bit. The Hobbs have offered to see to his recovery, since they were the ones that found him and that live closer by. I believe we all have a lot to think about now, which is why we will hold another assembly two days from now.” Jack paused for a moment, throat working overtime. “No one- No one is going back to the old ways. Not while I’m here. If that piece of filth believes, _hopes_ otherwise, well. Guess we’ll have to show it.”

That was good enough both for the villagers and Will, who felt weaker by the second. Dizziness overtook him as a set of friendly hands guided him outside. Some people thanked him and others promised to pray for him, but Will’s mind was too far gone to reply. He blacked out on the way home, drifting on and off consciousness before the cart stopped and they half-carried him into his house, and then into bed. 

Will slept for a long time, but when he finally opened his eyes, his stomach had stopped turning and the floor was finally in one place. 

The Hobbs’s girl, Abigail, watched him. She sat on a stool at the edge of Will’s bed, with a bowl of hot soup in her lap. She didn’t prod with questions, but merely waited until Will was fully present. 

Meanwhile, Louise, Abigail’s mother, fumbled away in the kitchen and despaired at the meager state of Will’s pantry. 

Abigail chuckled. “She’s always going on about the importance of greens. Think you can eat by yourself?”

Will nodded and accepted the bowl. Each movement to bring the spoon near his mouth made the wound on his shoulder twinge, but Will was too hungry to care, and ate it all slowly. 

He was grateful for the help, but uncomfortable with all the coddling he had experienced in the past few days. Being well-liked among the community had never gone past the respectful nod when passing each other on the street, or getting congratulated when it was his birthday. Now, though, they _babysat_ him. 

Will didn’t need the entire village in a frenzy because of him. He was the one that had accepted the Creature’s invitation, foolishly thinking that he would be able to destroy it. These were the consequences of his actions, and he would settle them on his own. He just needed to get better.

“Why are you making that face?” Abigail asked. 

Will shook his head slowly and placed the spoon in the empty bowl. “This whole thing just feels unreal.”

Abigail agreed. “I used to believe creatures like _faeries_ and monsters were just some old wive’s tales. Grandma used to go on about magical beings having walked among us a long time ago, and how they’d had to flee into hiding, burrowing deeper into the woods and the mountains until we forgot they even existed. She was very adamant about their being real.”

There was silence for a moment, which Will dared not break. 

Grace Hobbs, Abigail’s grandmother, had disappeared fifteen years ago. Whispered word was that she walked into the forest one day never to be seen again. Will had been only fifteen back then, but he remembered rather vividly the search parties that had been organised to look for Grace — all of them failed attempts. The only clue they’d had was Abigail, at the time aged seven, who firmly stated that her grandma had gone to meet the _faeries_. 

  
  


“What was it like, Will? I mean… What did it look like?”

Should he tell her? Should he disclose in detail to this nineteen year old what the monstrosity lurking in the woods looked like, and what it did once it got its claws on you? Perhaps it would save her one day, though he dearly hoped it never came to that. 

“It had horns. And hooves like a goat. When it… attacked me, I could smell something sweet, maybe wine or herbs? But that’s about it. It all became too hazy afterwards.”

“You were covered in blood when we found you, and there was that…” 

Will touched the spot on his shoulder where clean bandages had been wrapped. 

“It… Bit me. Repeatedly, like a dog with prey. And I think- God, I think it also drank my blood.”

Abigail nodded, concerned eyebrows furrowed over deep blue eyes. She didn’t let on what she was thinking just then, but Will found out a couple days later, when she dropped a heavy tome in his lap. 

“ _Demons of the Old World._ ”

She shushed him and looked over her shoulder. Her mother was in the other room, stuffing Will’s pantry with pots of pickled food and sacks of wheat, whistling happily while she did so.

“My father’s had that in his study for a long time, along with other things that used to belong to his mum. I think it’s been in the family for a while now, but he’s never let me read it. I did it anyway, after- You know. After grandma. I just- had to know more, and-”

“Please. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

Abigail nodded, lips tight. “My dad won’t notice it. He rarely goes in there anymore. Too many memories, I guess.”

Will touched the cover with cautious fingertips. The book was older than anything he’d ever seen. 

“Abby, let’s go!” Louise called. 

“Page 3-6-4,” Abigail whispered. “I checked beforehand. I think... ” She paused. “You’ll need help, Will. If what attacked you and drank your blood really is the creature on that page, you _will_ need help.”

Will had no reply. Abigail’s words made something cold settle in his chest. 

Louise called again, growing impatient. Abigail waved goodbye, and left. 

*

Will stood at the centre of an open field that stretched as far as the eye could see. 

Green grass tickled his bare feet, and the warm breeze was gentle against his skin. He wore fine fabrics that barely concealed his naked form, but that didn’t bother him. Cruel winter hadn’t reached this place, and the stars glittered bright and clear on the deep blue veil of night. 

Their shine was greater than how Will remembered them, having spent many hours on his porch counting them with Winston by his side. But while the knowledge of walking under a foreign sky should have unsettled him, those constellations also felt strangely familiar.

Will was certain that he had never been here before, but still, something told him that if he walked back far enough, he would be met with a never-ending sea of trees. One might walk into them and old age would find them before they had reached the other side. 

There was also the hint of a presence coming from that place. Faint, flickering, maybe not even there at all. Whenever Will tried to grasp it, the feeling slipped through the tendrils of his mind. It was a taxing exercise, and soon Will grew tired and retreated. 

Instead, his mind stretched into different directions. Some were more inviting than others, and he could be at ease there — but nothing compared to the pull towards North. His mind was as blank as a slate when he turned in that direction, but his heart gave a painful leap, knowing that that was where he was meant to go. 

The feeling urged him forward, every step slow and yet so fast. It was a while before he saw the warm, orange glow of a tall bonfire. It burned bright in the darkness, casting long shadows that flickered and wavered like the beating of a heart. There were people running, singing and dancing around it; playing melodious flutes whose tunes bubbled like a stream through the rocks.

Will could swear there was a sound in the fire, partly concealed by the music. The beating of a heart that was familiar, but which Will couldn’t for the life of him tell where he had heard it before. Voices rose and fell with the rhythm of the flutes, joyful laughter inviting him to join them in celebration. 

Will stood there a while, eyes fixed on the bonfire and mind losing itself to the movements of the spiraling flames and dancing bodies. The effect was hypnotic, and soon laughter bubbled out of Will’s throat, unprompted. The dancers pulled Will along and he danced with them. 

He didn’t know who they were, only that they, too, were naked and that their bodies were female. Will knew that they were beautiful, but he couldn’t see their faces. Their bodies were supple, heavy breasts and thick thighs bouncing with the intense pull of their dance. 

Will touched himself, feeling out of place among them. They laughed, sensing his discomfort, but there was something reassuring about it, and Will realised how silly it was to think that he didn’t belong here. How preposterous to believe such a thing when they touched him and called him beautiful, all of him: his brown curls and chiseled chin, dusted with the faint hint of a beard; his firm pectorals and pebbled nipples; his milky thighs and the gentle lines of his abdomen. 

They removed his clothes. Will only giggled, letting himself get pulled along their playful advances — until they weren’t so playful anymore. 

He was kissed and laid out on the ground. One of them whispered in his ear that he’d soon get what he wanted, and only then did Will realise that his cock was soft, showing no interest at all, in spite of their learned touches. 

_He is coming_. Will froze.

A bout of giggles soon became frenzied laughter, and then howls. They moaned when the night became darker and the fire grew more intense. Will felt it too: a lust that rendered him speechless, turned him into a gasping mess where he lay near the flames. 

The _women_ danced above and around him, coming close and retreating, and Will finally saw their faces. Animalistic, with snouts like foxes and antlers like deers protruding from their foreheads. Their beady eyes hungered for him. They licked his face and grabbed his legs, bending his knees and opening wide. 

Will noticed, then, the woods. Far closer than he had believed, far more real than it was possible. And something, _someone_ was coming. 

A man emerged from the trees. He was tall, with long hair the colour of moonbeams. His eyes were liquid gold and his lips were supple when they stretched into a warm smile. But his teeth — Will knew those teeth. 

A sharp pain where his neck met his shoulder told him what this was. A dream.

How come he hadn’t noticed it sooner? His wicked mind had taken him to the Creature, to a fevered dream in which the beast had a face. Its presence was the same, even here. Its sweet scent, the same as Will remembered, and his body thrummed with it, like an instrument eager to be used for one last, grand piece. 

The arrival of that man made Will’s cock fill out and start pulsating steadily. Once glance at the man’s torso had Will moaning with desire. 

He was all firm lines where Will was plump; sinewy, where Will’s muscles were hidden beneath a healthy layer of fat. Will knew too well what it felt like to rub himself all over that fuzzy chest until his nipples got sore; to have his cock rut into the path of fur that began on the man’s pecs, and travelled down his sculpted abdomen and pelvis. The hair thickened here, nestling around a thick, heavy cock that stood proud between his legs. The head was flushed, glistening wet in the fire light. 

Will couldn’t look away, pinned down by many hands. Chin glued to his chest, he devoured the man with his eyes, pupils blown wide with lust. When the man finally stood between Will’s legs and towered over him, Will sighed and relaxed, head falling back onto the ground. He spread his legs further, easily, a silent invitation. The hands holding him down weren’t needed anymore. 

The man raised a leg and placed a bony foot on Will’s thickened cock, making him gasp. The power he had over Will was numbing. He could destroy Will as easily as putting out a candle, could stomp Will with his hooves — now turned feet — and devour his body. 

Instead, he lazily caressed Will’s cock. His foot was lean and veiny, white and cold against the hot flush of Will’s skin. 

He let Will do all the work; let him wriggle and thrust up from the ground, just keeping enough pressure to make sure Will leaked copious amounts of pre-come and tore off grass leaves in his urge to orgasm; but never enough to allow him to come. 

_Did you miss me that much, my boy?_

Will shuddered, nodding a hasty _yes_.

Around them, the women were moaning and hitting above their wombs with closed fists. A few sobbed in agony, while others turned to one another for pleasure. 

The man looked around with a cheeky smile. 

_See what you’re doing to them?_

Will looked, but it was the smell that got to him. Body sweat and pleasure mixed with the man’s scent. But while the first was pungent, the man’s was sweet, wrapping around Will’s mind like a rope around a neck. 

Will moaned, and the women moaned, too. Will’s body felt wired to theirs, their bliss somehow tied to Will’s. The presence of their master had driven them half into madness. Will could feel the hunger within them, how desperate they were to touch Him — but they couldn’t. 

The only one allowed to touch was Will, and whatever pleasure they felt were distant ripples of Will’s own. And yet, they were lost in it. Any more than that, and they would’ve… They would have _devoured each other_.

It wasn’t Will’s own mind supplying the answer. He looked at the man. 

That cheeky grin was still there. Will hesitantly reached out and traced the man’s ankle with his fingertips. The man allowed it.

Growing bolder, Will closed a palm around it and another behind a calf, to steady them both. Will fucked into the sole of that foot then, dragging his leaking cock against the white sole and getting it slick with pre-come. 

The man groaned approvingly while Will took his own pleasure, but he pulled away right before Will could orgasm. 

Will growled and rose to his knees. Soon, he had the man’s feet under his warm lips, kissing them with a hunger that bordered adoration. Will licked and sucked a toe into his mouth, dragging his tongue over a sharp nail. 

Will moved up. Past the hairs on the man’s legs, his knees and strong thighs. The man made room for Will when he stopped between his legs. 

Will waited. All around him, the worshippers waited, too — holding their breaths to have the ghost of their Lord’s taste on their tongues. 

The man’s hands were gentle when they curled around Will’s nape, but less so when they closed into fists around Will’s hair. The man pushed his cock past Will’s lips. It was heavy on Will’s tongue, and the man kept him like that. He thrust into Will’s mouth until Will gagged, fucked into it until thick slobber had dribbled down Will’s chin and chest. There were tears and snot covering Will’s face and his eyes were puffy from it. 

Wil couldn’t help it, though. Couldn’t help but want the man’s cock deep down his throat even if he felt like the girth of it would suffocate him. Will let the tears flow freely while the man abused his mouth, keeping his hands behind his back to show the man what a good boy he was. 

Every time the man moaned, pleasure surged through Will’s body and he tightened not to come. At one point, the man pulled Will off, fisted his cock and tapped Will’s cheek with it. The wet slap it produced was obscene, pre-come and spit mixing with the mess of tears and snot on Will’s face. That sweet scent was stronger here, near the man’s heavy ballsack. Will dragged his puffy lips down the stiff ridge of his cock, mouthing at his testicles and sucking one into his mouth. 

The man rumbled approvingly. Around them, the women were crying and moaning, their pleas almost desperate. 

Will didn’t care about them, couldn’t give a damn about anything that wasn’t his own worship. Because this… This couldn’t be called anything else. 

The next time the man pulled Will off, it was to look him in the eyes and plant a brief kiss to Will’s spit-slick lips. It wasn’t enough, and Will struggled to pull the man’s lip into his mouth, but the fist around his hair kept him firmly in place. Down, on his knees.

The man snarled when Will whimpered _please_ , but his only response was _give yourself to me_.

Will lay down again. The man followed him, sitting on his haunches between Will’s spread legs. His hands were greedy when they caressed Will’s chest, squeezing and pinching Will’s tits. Will moaned and kept them there. 

The man loomed over him. His face flickered between human and beast, and Will wondered how much of it was the fire’s doing — because the beauty of him remained even in his nightmarish form.

Will planted his heels on the ground and slid down, hole meeting the tip of the man’s cock. 

_Good boy_ , the man praised, and Will sighed, hot. 

Will’s cock pumped out a dribble of come. The man tutted, reaching out with one of those long fingers to catch the string of spend and wipe it off the head. 

Will shuddered at the contact, but his mouth went aghast when the man rose that finger to his lips and hummed around it. 

_You still taste delicious_ , the man purred, and pressed inside. 

Will remembered him, his girth and the weight of him. It burned, but Will was surprisingly ready. Reaching down, he touched where his hole stretched around the man’s cock, and it was _wet_. Behind his balls, down his cheeks and the fine hair there, there was wetness covering every inch of it. 

Will rose to his elbows to look, and the man didn’t stop him — only grabbed Will’s hips, thumbs pressing down the dips of his pelvis, and pulled Will down on his cock. He thrust slow and deep, and Will watched as that cock went in and out of him, always wetter than before, and _bigger._

The man reached deep inside Will. The head of his cock was no longer bulbous, but pointed and leaking that thick, unnatural slick that began to froth when he picked up the pace. 

Will ground down on him, trying to keep him inside. 

The man touched Will’s belly and leaned against his ear. 

_Let me go, love._ A kiss to Will’s neck had him melting. _Let me go or I won’t be able to fill you up._

The idea of himself stuffed full by him nearly made Will come. Slowly, he released, and the man resumed rutting into his body. Will rolled his hips, meeting each agonising thrust. Every time the man’s cock dragged against Will’s sweet spot, Will’s cock twitched and leaked. He wouldn’t last much longer like this. 

Will rose to his hands, pushing himself further onto man’s thighs. They were covered in thick fur now, rough where Will’s rubbed against them. It was so good, so maddening. Will cursed, breathless, and it was the closest he could get to a coherent thought. 

Around them, the women- _No, not women._ _Nymphs_. They moaned loud in their agony. The air was heavy with the man’s scent, but there was something else there. Equally overpowering, tangling with the sweetness that came from the Man-Creature now making Will bounce in his lap. 

_It’s you, love. They’re like this because of you._

Will shared in their frenzy. He felt it, the agony of those Nymphs, right at the lower centre of his belly, a pang of lust and _need_ , as if something was missing. 

“I need- I need- Please.” 

Will flung both arms around the man, meeting his thrusts with animalistic urge. This wasn’t sex anymore, perhaps it never had been. It was a ritual. One as old as time. 

“Inside, please, please.”

A pair of clawed hands dragged up Will's fluttering chest in a worship of their own; then, they came down his back, holding onto his hips like vices and keeping him in place. Steadying him. 

The pain in Will’s lower-abdomen was driving him insane. He needed this, needed this Creature’s, this horned monster’s seed inside him. That’s what he was made for, and he’d die if he didn’t have it. 

“Come on- come on-” he panted against the beast’s sinful lips. They were smiling. “Breed me.”

The Creature came inside. Only then, the pain stopped. 

  
  


*

The dream robbed Will of sleep and kept him on edge during the days that followed, but under Louise Hobbs’s watchful eye, Will’s condition slowly improved. Abigail’s mother took great pride in being a provider, a carer, and had only stopped coming to check on Will when she was sure that his wounds had healed. She recommended chamomile tea for the insomnia, but Will doubted that would help. 

Abigail still visited from time to time. She brought wildberry jam and bread, which Will was very grateful for. His appetite had grown as of late, and he was always up for a bite. 

Besides, Abigail liked to talk, and while Will wasn’t much for conversation, he still enjoyed Abigail’s company. 

She was a sharp young girl who deserved a lot more than their backwater place had to offer. There were bigger towns, more opportunities for study... She had smiled sadly when he told her as much, mumbling something about _grandma_ and _tradition_. She didn’t explain, and Will didn’t press. 

“Any luck with the book?”

Will shrugged. He had read those damned pages until he became bleary-eyed, but it didn’t feel right to tell Abigail that her hunch had been right, in more ways than she could have imagined. Doing so would mean touching on the sudden… _changes_ that his body and mind had been going through, and that strange dream.

But then again, he couldn’t lie, not when he himself didn’t fully understand what those changes meant. Not when he was so fond of Abby.

“You were right.”

Abigail’s expression grew dark and she was silent for a while. 

“Have you cleansed yourself, Will?”

Will sputtered. “Have I what?” He was positive that he was blushing. 

“I’ve been feeling this… I don’t know how to phrase it, but it’s like a _smell_ coming from you.”

Will motioned to sniff his armpit, and she swatted at him. 

“Not like that, genius. It’s not, how do I put this… It’s not unpleasant, but it’s- kind of sickening. I have a better sense for these things than most people, so I’m sure that must be why I can pick it up so strongly on you. But it’s as if you’re walking around with a huge target on your back. Wherever you go, that smell follows you. It’s all over your house, actually. Even poor Winston here must have felt it, with how far he’s lying from you.”

Will clicked his tongue in Winston’s direction, but the poor dog only looked at him anxiously. A cold dread began to settle in Will’s chest, like a claw closing around his heart. 

Abigail didn’t need to say it for Will to understand. He may not have told her about the dream, but she knew it before he did. 

The wound on Will’s shoulder throbbed. _It has marked me._

Will could swear Abigail was reading his mind. “You need to cleanse yourself and this place. And soon.”

“How?”

Abigail tapped her knees. “I’ll think of something. There must be a book about it in my father’s study.” 

She thought hard about something, fingers absent-mindedly tracing a pattern over the scarf she wore, tight, around her neck.

“Won’t he figure you’re up so something if his books start disappearing?”

“He doesn’t go in there. At least, not anymore. Not ever since that day. I think…” She chuckled. “I think he’s afraid of the room now.”

Will wanted to ask, but she cut him short. 

“I’ll bring something tomorrow. You should bathe in rock-salt water tonight. I’ve got to go now, mum asked me to do some chores while dad is talking with the Council. I’ll let you know about it.”

Will waved her away. 

That night, he did bathe in rock-salt. At the first contact, it was as if his body had been zapped by lightning. He hadn’t done much work that day, but the water that pooled in the basin where he stood was murky black. 

Will felt lighter, but tired. He threw away the water and settled into bed for some well-deserved rest. 

Will had lived alone in that house for years, but the absence of other residents had never bothered him. That night, though, he felt exposed — as if no matter how many doors he closed, how many windows he locked, his house was still open, inviting anyone or anything to step inside. 

It was a few miles before the first neighbouring farms began to appear, and it wasn’t the norm to lock the door at night. Everyone knew everyone, and the few robbery cases that had occurred over the years had been dealt with on the spot. Sometimes, though, one might forget to close the door and wake up to find that a fox had entered their living room and messed up the place. Those were dealt with, later. 

Their greatest problem, as of late, was the Creature that fed on their livestock. However, it didn’t come into their homes, never had. Will nevertheless found himself turning the lock on the sturdy door of his home and looking over his shoulder at Winston, who now stood by his side. 

Will smiled nervously and scratched Winston behind the ear. “Doesn’t hurt to be careful, right, bud?”

Every door and window was either locked or barred, and the thickest logs were kept burning in the fireplace. It would be a few hours before Will had to replace them, but he hoped they would last until he’d had a good six hours of sleep. 

Winston stuck close by him all the time, clearly having missed his owner. He hopped onto Will’s bed for the first time in a long time when Will had finally finished securing the house, and Will allowed it.

“Just this once!” 

Winston had wagged his tail, as if knowing that that was a blatant lie. This was familiar, and Will managed to relax, if only a little. He had felt positively ridiculous locking the place up, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched the entire time, and _that_ had made him double check every lock. 

There was still some rock-salt left, thick crystals that glittered in the candle-light. Will grabbed a handful and shoved it under the mattress. Winston sniffed the place and looked at Will, probably thinking his owner had gone mad. 

“You shush it,” Will warned. 

Sleep, when it came, was peaceful. No dreams, no nightmares. Will slept so well, in fact, that he went past the estimated time. Six hours became eight, ten, and the cold tendrils of winter began to wrap, slow and tortuous, around the low building. 

Will awoke with a start when he felt a gust of freezing wind snap against his cheek, and Winston barking at something from a corner of the room. Will’s room was icy cold.

“Oh, no...”

Will bolted right up. Horror crested in his chest when he saw it, and a wave of terror bound him in place. 

Will didn’t know how that was possible, not when he had taken every precaution last night — but now, the door to his bedroom was open, and from what Will could make of the loud bangs of wood against stone, every single door and window in his house had also been unlocked and pried apart. 

The cold winter draft had slithered in like a snake into a nest, and god knows what else had made its way in there as well. Because something _had_ , and if Winston’s desperate barks at the door weren’t proof enough, there was also the floor.

There were _footprints_ leading in and out of Will’s bedroom. They were muddy, tracing a line that stopped a few inches away from Will’s bed before they backed away, and then outside. 

A dark stain was visible on the edge of Will’s mattress; sharp, as if whatever had caused it had only had time to make brief contact with the bed before it had been _repelled_. 

Will found it in himself to lift the mattress, but his hands trembled so much that he barely made it. Whatever rock-salt he had placed there had turned charcoal black. Will dropped the mattress and put a hand to his mouth, trying to keep from getting sick. It couldn’t be.

Winston sniffed and licked at him nervously, whining as he went to and fro the door. Will took a deep breath, two, and followed the footprints. Winston ran ahead of him.

The footprints were human. The large, blackened shapes denounced the way that the person had trodden into Will’s house, but just before they reached the tattered carpet in the living room, the prints changed. 

Right there, where a wooden plank met the old carpet, the prints gained new form. Looking closer, they had become somewhat circular, formed by a pair of elongated shapes that were larger at the base and narrower at the tip, but which met at both ends. 

Will had seen those before, back when he was a kid visiting his uncle’s farm for the end of the year celebrations. He had spent a month there with his family and learned a lot about living stock. 

He knew how to wash and how to feed them; how to make cheese with their milk and how to cure their meat. He knew what they sounded like, and after a while, Will was even able to tell some of them apart in the dark. 

It had been fun, for a while. But there had been one day that would stay with him, due to the simple fact that he couldn’t remember most of it. All he knew of that day had been put together after hearing accounts of other people, and even they seemed uncertain just how Will had managed to survive.

He had gotten lost in the forest, a place he wasn’t supposed to venture into in the first place. When he had emerged hours later, hungry and dirty, from the trees, the only thing he knew for certain was that there had been tracks, and that he had followed them home. 

His mother had been crying so much they’d had to give her a poppy infusion to calm her wits. She’d barely been able to stand to welcome Will into her arms, but all that mattered was that he was safe. 

Strangely, when she whispered _thank you… Thank you for bringing him back_ , it didn’t sound like her usual prayers. It had felt like she was talking to someone else. _It had felt_ like she was talking to the old black goat that always seemed to watch Will with curious eyes. 

According to them, if there had been tracks, they must have been the goat’s, and how clever Will was to have followed them!

Looking back, there had been a similar set of tracks when Will had accepted the Creature’s invitation for tea and biscuits. 

And now, they were in his living room, and had been here for God knows how long. _It_ had watched him sleep, with the same old, haunting pair of eyes. 

Will set about cleaning the dirty marks on the floor and removing whatever snow had found its way inside with the draft. His entire body felt on edge, and it would take more than a couple shots of whiskey to make his heart stop racing. He would get sturdier locks, and buy more rock salt. Yes, that would work. 

Abigail arrived as he was about to finish. Maybe the dread on Will’s face gave him away, but Abigail didn’t ask. She pushed a small bundle of cloth wrapped around something lumpy, tied off with spun yarn. 

“Keep this in your bedroom. It should help with the bad dreams.”

Will managed not to drop the item with how shaky he was, and weighed it in his hand.

“How do you know I’ve had them?”

Abigail shrugged and sat by the porch. Will put the broom aside and joined her, circling his knees with his arms. Soon, Winston did too, a warm weight leaning against Will’s side. 

“It makes sense that you’d do.”

That couldn’t be all that there was to it, and Will told her as much.

“But I’ll admit I have an easier time telling what’s wrong with people than most. Sorta grew up like this. Granny said- Well, it doesn’t really matter what she said now. She isn’t here anymore.”

“I’m sorry.”

Abigail smiled. 

“She would’ve been able to help you a lot more. Whatever’s marked you won’t be happy to see you fighting back. You should find someplace safe, and it’d better be soon,” she looked at the pile of dirt and snow Will had swept off his living room, knowing. Her words rang ominously. 

“I’m going to kill it.”

Abigail nodded slowly. “Good luck with that.”

Will wasn’t sure if it was a real wish or if she was mocking him. But Abigail wasn’t one to dismiss people so easily, and the way she eyed him was strangely sad. 

“You don’t believe it can be killed?” Will asked, fearing the answer.

“I think it’s too smart- too old to let itself get killed. The Council is confident, but even they are taking precautions. At least, some of them are. Things are about to get very dangerous very soon.”

Will asked what she meant by that. Abigail explained that the Council had commissioned a _weapon_. They had put in the order for a blacksmith that lived in a secluded grove, some three weeks travelling distance from here. The blacksmith went by the name Francis, and his face was so terribly mangled that nobody could stand to look at him.

“It should arrive in a few weeks,” she added. “Too bad I won’t be here to see it. My dad is sending mum and I to our cousins’.”

She stood up after that. “I just came to say goodbye.”

For the first time, Abigail hugged him. Will hugged back, the surge of fraternal care that he felt for her overpowering Will’s fear for a brief moment. He was actually relieved that she would be away, _safe,_ when all of this came to its climax. 

“You take care of yourself,” Will told her. 

She nodded, waved and left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo what did you like best? :)

**Author's Note:**

> I literally have no excuse for this.  
> I should be writing an article for my masters course, but i've been SINNING ALL DAY  
> anyway, hope you enjoyed it. in case i forgot any tags, lemme know  
> you can find me on twitter as dantherus, come and let's chat :)  
> and if you absolutely HATE THIS i dont wanna know. go bake some bread and chill. i'm literally just a fucking stranger on the internet


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